Clemson coach told athletes a pregnancy could end scholarship

Pete Iacobelli, The Associated Press

Published
10:00 pm PDT, Monday, May 14, 2007

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A Clemson track coach told her athletes that becoming pregnant could jeopardize their scholarships, but the school said Monday no students lost their aid and the policy was later dropped.

The warnings came to light Sunday when ESPN, citing an anonymous female athlete at the school, reported that at least seven current and former Clemson athletes had abortions for fear of losing their scholarships. The athlete told the sports network that she had an abortion after a school official told her she could lose her scholarship by being pregnant.

Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips said in a statement posted on the school's athletic department Web site that track coach Marcia Noad had presented her team with written rules, which included the lines, "Pregnancy resulting in the inability to compete and positively contribute to the program's success will result in the modification of your grant-in-aid money. Please consult your coaching staff immediately to discuss."

Phillips said Noad's intent was for her athletes to make "safe and responsible choices regarding sexual activity" and not to promote abortions for athletes to keep their athletic grants.

"Pregnancy would not be a valid reason for the Clemson University athletic department to cancel a student-athlete's scholarship during the period of renewal," Phillips said in the statement.

Athletic spokesman Tim Bourret said Monday the department removed Noad's guidelines before the 2006 fall semester. He said it was not a department-wide guideline and was limited to one team. Bourret said Clemson never took away an athlete's scholarship because of pregnancy.

ESPN's report quoted an anonymous Clemson female athlete who said she was asked to sign a team document containing Noad's policy before the 2005 season. "I have a couple of teammates that have had abortions due to the fact that they knew they weren't going to get their scholarship back," the athlete told ESPN.

When the athlete discovered she was pregnant, she said she spoke with a Clemson administrator who counseled her that she could forfeit her scholarship if the coach found out, ESPN reported.

Before the start of the fall semester, administrators removed the policy from a team handbook. Once the policy was removed from the team guidelines, administrators made sure Noad knew "the pregnancy rule should've never been in the handbook" and female athletes were told pregnancy does not affect scholarships, Phillips said.

ESPN in its report also featured members of the women's track team at the University of Memphis who were required to sign a document acknowledging they could lose their scholarships if they became pregnant.

Cassandra Harding told The Associated Press she considered having an abortion to keep her scholarship, but she decided against it. Her scholarship was not renewed the next school year. She later rejoined the team as a walk-on.